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What is the aikidoka's response to other styles?
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Play our game and not fall into to thiers.
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are you trained to respond to strikes in combinations instead of single swings?
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Yes.
Single swings for beginners to understand mai-ai (critical distance, de-ai (moment of "interaction"), timing and form.
Combinations (free and fixed),once the basics are down. We learn to expect the unexpected and isolate needed energy .
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If an aikidoka were to come up against an experienced grappler (from whatever style) that person would be extremely resistant to being off balance. Does the typical dojo's randori represent this effectively?
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This is a great question and really one of those "what ifs" that we get all the time. Aikido is a type of grappling, only modified so as not to go into the clinch if at all possible. We do however deal with the clinch, I personally have found the technique "heaven and earth throw" to be very effective in that regard. Also, a good aikidoka will also have amazing balance.
As far as randori goes it really depends on the dojo. A traditional randori will deal with traditional attacks in the japanese traditional sense. A more progressive dojo with the "martial" in mind will practice with all types of attacks. At my dojo, only the senior students practice against wrestling type take downs and shoots and similar attacks. We have alot of guys with alot of experience in other arts so it makes it much easier.
We also use feints to elicit response and use that energy to our advantage.
Like any other art, it really depends on the artist and their understanding of the art. I know some Aikidoka that I would not let face a 12 year old girl and others that seemed more like fire breathing monsters than anything else.
cheers,
bamboo
